Flood warning for new housing on Dublin coast

Development, including new housing in "soft" coastal areas, cannot be protected indefinitely from erosion and flooding, the Heritage Council warned yesterday.

Presenting a policy paper, Conserving Ireland's Maritime Heritage, the council said areas of new housing in estuaries along the coast north of Dublin could "fill up like a bath" in a severe flood.

It particularly warned of the negative effect of poorly-sited tourism developments, which, it said, were visible in Clare, Donegal, Waterford and Wexford. It called for the adoption "by local authority planners most importantly, but also by Government" of sustainable building practices in vulnerable areas.

Beatrice Kelly of the Heritage Council said experience in Essex, in the UK, showed it was not sustainable to build housing in coastal zones where that housing has to be continually defended from erosion.

In the UK, she said, in some cases the only solution was to allow vulnerable development to fall into the sea, allowing the flooded areas to remain effectively as breakwaters in storms. Building artificial breakwaters and maintaining them was not sustainable.

Ms Kelly said "housing in estuaries north of Dublin would fill up like a bath in the event of a severe flood. It would have been much better to build in safer areas". But she said the "maritime and coastal heritage provides a vast array of wealth to the country, including food, tourism, amenity areas, ports, transport and protection from flooding".

Greater national protection and a comprehensive management system needs to be urgently put in place, she concluded.

Michael Starrett, chief executive of the Heritage Council, said "soft" areas of coastline, such as that seen on the east coast, could not be protected indefinitely in a sustainable manner. He warned of the dangers of using such sites for building development.

Launching the report, which is to be presented to Minister for the Environment Dick Roche, Tom Mac Sweeney of RTÉ said he hoped "those responsible for planning and policy implementation will read it and apply what it says".

The policy calls for a number of measures to be put in place, including:

r Clear guidance for new development in coastal areas

r A national plan for erosion and flood management to account for the likely effects of climate change

r Protection of coastal landscapes and promotion of sustainable tourism

r Offshore and coastal biodiversity plans

r Improved management plans for aquaculture enterprises to reduce ecological damage

r Conservation of traditional boats for commercial and recreational purposes.

Outlining the need for an integrated strategy which would protect a range of features from native shellfish to seascapes, the document calls for the use of "heritage sustainability which puts our national maritime heritage at the core of future planning and development decisions".